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The merit-aid verdict at Peru State
Peru State's merit awards are all tuition-waiver scholarships that cannot be combined and generally require living on campus, topping out at a Full Tuition award for a 3.6 GPA.
Rules that bite at Peru State
The trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook. Each is derived from Peru State's own published policy, not generic advice.
displacementNo published displacement order
Peru State's policy doesn't specify whether outside scholarships hit loans, grants, or only the COA ceiling. Get a written aid-office answer before chasing private awards.
Common merit-aid mistakes at Peru State
The page states competitive scholarships 'cannot be combined' — you receive one award, not several layered together.
All awards are tuition-waiver scholarships; 'Full Tuition' covers tuition only (about $6,240/yr) and does not cover required fees, housing, or food, which together push the full cost of attendance to roughly $24,972.
Most awards require residency in on-campus housing and full-time enrollment; commuters generally do not qualify for these scholarships.
The academic scholarship priority deadline is January 15, 2026, and most named competitive awards are due January 15 (RHOP December 1); awards are also subject to availability, so late applicants risk no funding.
Tuition waivers leave the ~$5,888 housing and ~$5,568 food charges to the student; budget for these on top of the waiver.
Who this school is for
Nebraska and out-of-state students with a 3.6 GPA who plan to live on campus and want a full-tuition waiver; mid-range GPA students get partial tuition waivers.
Tuition / cost of attendance: Approximately $24,972 for 2026-2027. Source
Federal cost and outcome data
Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at Peru State, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.
Average annual net price by family income at Peru State, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family income
Average net price paid
$0–$30,000
$9,986
$30,001–$48,000
$9,779
$48,001–$75,000
$12,845
$75,001–$110,000
$12,313
$110,001+
$13,450
All income levels (average)
$11,632
Sticker price vs. what students actually pay
Published tuition & fees, AY 2022-23
$8,640
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$11,632
That works out to roughly a 48% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $22,240 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).
Peru State is a public school; Scorecard's net price figure covers in-state, Title-IV-aid-recipient payers only — there is no comparable federal figure for out-of-state students.
Outcomes for students who enrolled here
Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
38%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
64%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$21,875 (~$232/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$47,071
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
52%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
66%
Institutional merit aid tiers
Every tier below is sourced to the school’s own published financial aid pages. Renewal terms apply only if the student maintains the stated GPA.
$2,000-$6,000
Academic Scholarships (GPA grid)
ApplicationRenewable
GPA
2.70 minimum (3.6 for top tier / Full Tuition)
ACT
Test-optional; submitting scores encouraged
Requirements & details+
Eligibility
High school graduate; admitted student; residency on campus; enrolled full-time
Renewal terms
Renewable tuition award (page presents it as a renewable scholarship); specific renewal GPA/credit terms not stated on this page.
Notes
Tuition waiver scholarship. Listed under 'Competitive Scholarships' which 'cannot be combined' and are 'subject to availability.' Top tier ($6,000 / 3.6 GPA) is described as Full Tuition; lower tiers are Partial Tuition.
Peru State's competitive scholarships are tuition-waiver scholarships that 'cannot be combined' with each other, are subject to availability, and generally require living in on-campus housing and full-time enrollment. The page does not address how private/outside scholarships are treated.
Competitive scholarships cannot be combined; each is a tuition waiver unless noted otherwise; eligibility generally requires on-campus residency and full-time enrollment. No statement on outside/private scholarship displacement.
The Academic Scholarship priority deadline is January 15, 2026. Board of Trustees, No Boundaries, and Cooperating Schools awards are due January 15; RHOP is due December 1; Nebraska Career Scholarships have a rolling deadline.
Can I combine Peru State scholarships?
No. The page states competitive scholarships cannot be combined; they are tuition-waiver scholarships subject to availability.
What GPA do I need for the top award?
A 3.6 GPA earns the $6,000 Full Tuition Academic Scholarship; 3.5 earns $4,400, 3.20 earns $3,000, and 2.70 earns $2,000 (all partial tuition below the top tier).
Do I have to live on campus?
Yes for most awards — eligibility generally requires residency in on-campus housing and full-time enrollment (12+ credit hours).
Is Peru State test-optional for scholarships?
Yes. Peru State is test-optional, but submitting test scores is encouraged to enhance your profile for scholarship review.
How Peru State compares across our verified dataset
135 of 750 verified schools in our dataset use unclear or unpublished displacement.
Peru State is in a recognizable cluster (135 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.
135 of 750 verified schools publish no clear displacement order.
Peru State is one of them. The right move is the aid-office email script below, not a guess.
668 of 750 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Peru State is one of them. The cohort minority (82 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.
Sources used on this page
Every claim is checked against Peru State’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.
